Simplicity starts year with a fee cut

Simplicity is cutting fees for all of its KiwiSaver and diversified investment funds by 13.8%, from 0.29% to 0.25%. The changes kick in on February 1 and this is the manager's sixth fee cut in six years.

"We first cut fees in 2018 when the annual member fee for investors under the age of 18 was removed, and the following year moved to a single member fee regardless of the number of funds held by an investor," managing director Sam Stubbs says.

"In 2020 the membership fee was reduced by $10, and this fee was eliminated for all members in December 2021. More recently, in 2023, the investment management fee was cut to 0.30% and then further reduced to 0.29% after a switch from Vanguard to DWS International GmbH (DWS) reduced our management and administration costs for existing diversified funds."

This latest fee cut is the result of Simplicity's continued growth, with more than 147,000 members and $5.5 billion dollars in funds under management.